The Civil Aviation Department of Hong Kong Wednesday gave the approval for passenger fuel surcharges levied by three airlines to be increased in April.

They included All-Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines.

The new maximum surcharges will be 248 HK dollars (about 29.62 U.S. dollars) for short-haul flights and 1,132 HK dollars for long-haul flights, representing increases of eight percent and nine percent.

Passenger fuel surcharges seek to allow airlines to partially recover the increase in operational costs due to fluctuations in aviation fuel prices.

The surcharges are reviewed regularly. The last review was done at the end of February when the maximum surcharge levels approved by the department were 230 HK dollars for short-haul flights and 1, 039 HK dollars for long-haul flights.